Unplug Your Phone or Face the Consequences

It’s something that most of us do regularly, however several recent incidents have highlighted the dangers of using your phone while it’s charging.

Gabbie Fedro was using her LG d500 when the charger overheated, causing second-degree burns. The parents of the teenage girl heard screams from their daughter’s room, seconds before the young girl emerged grabbing her neck in severe pain.

This follows several similar occurrences in the last few years, including:

An Australian mother who died while speaking on the phone when a defective USB charger gave her a fatal electric shock

A Chinese woman who was electrocuted in 2013 while using a faulty charger

An American child who suffered severe burns after putting a connected USB cable into her mouth

The majority of these cases appear to have come from using cheap, unauthorized electronics, which spurred both Apple and the Australian regulatory bodies to issue a warning about their use.

While these stories can be off-putting, if your phone and its charger are in proper working order there should be no issue with using them while plugged in. Just think of the millions of people who use their phone non-stop every day, without any issues.